vrijdag, november 30, 2012

"In 1989, there were still about 1,650 people working in the Spinnerei. Production continued throughout the first years after the Wall fell and Germany was reunified. Production of thread came to an end in the beginning of 1993, causing the business to be liquidated and workers laid off. In August 1993, the Spinnerei was sold to a West German buyer by the Treuhand (the trust responsible for the GDR’s formerly nationally-owned companies). Until 2000, the business produced cord for car tires; when production finally ceased, it employed about 40 people. From the early 1990s onwards, a completely new phase in the use of the site began under the leadership of Regina Lenk, the then administrator. The empty rooms were used for alternative projects – a summer academy was opened, the first few artists set up studios, and architecture firms, workshops and exhibition rooms gradually moved in. In 1998, a tango workshop began on the site and in 1999 the Leipziger Schauspielhaus created a temporary venue in the Spinnerei. Clotho, goddess of fate, had spun a new thread of life for the place that was once the largest spinning works in mainland Europe, and whose history, after 125 years, has apparently not yet come to an end." (tekst:Karoline Mueller-Stahl, bron: Spinnerei)

Les Batignolles was the district where Manet and many of the future Impressionists lived. Fantin-Latour, a quiet observer of this period, has gathered around Manet, presented as the leader of the school, a number of young artists with innovative ideas: from left to right, we can recognise Otto Schölderer, a German painter who had come to France to get to know Courbet's followers, a sharp-faced Manet, sitting at his easel; Auguste Renoir, wearing a hat; Zacharie Astruc, a sculptor and journalist; Emile Zola, the spokesman of the new style of painting; Edmond Maître, a civil servant at the Town Hall; Frédéric Bazille, who was killed a few months later during the 1870 war, at the age of twenty-six; and lastly, Claude Monet." (bron: Musée d'Orsay/Works in focus)

dinsdag, november 20, 2012

"This project provides an unusual opportunity to design a working artist’s studio and weekend retreat for the artist Peter Doig and his family. The site is located at an elevation of approximately 500 feet above sea level in the coastal rainforest of the northern range of Trinidad with extensive views out to the Caribbean Sea and surrounding topography. The site comprises 1,800 m2 comprising a relatively stable plateau, with forested land rising steeply behind and in front of it. The site had no access to water or mains power supply and limited vehicular access....
The brief from the Client was to provide weekend accommodation for his family, including five children, and a spacious studio where he could paint and be close to nature. The studio was to be integral to the house, with the facility for closing it off whilst still affording views and access to the surrounding area. The sleeping area for the family was to allow for complete privacy....
The main body of the house and the studio are located on the plateau with the rear wall of the studio forming the retaining structure to the slope behind. The sleeping accommodation is located amongst trees at a slightly higher elevation. The two buildings are connected by a covered timber deck, adjacent to which is a protected area for an open fireplace...." (bron: Open Buildings/Artist House & Studio)

"In his new book, Inside the Painter’s Studio, artist Joe Fig documents the day-to-day lives of 24 contemporary artists with photos of their studios, notes on their work habits, and interviews about where and how they make art. In addition, Fig’s own sculptures are shown—miniature reproductions of the artists themselves in the process of creating, a spellbinding sort of diorama as portraiture. For any artist, historian, or art fan, there’s fascinating stuff in the minutia about gear and paint brands, and also the larger questions about what it takes to get up every morning and go paint. As Chuck Close says, “Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just show up and get to work.” See below for Fig’s detailed account of how the book came to be....

What stood out as something many studios and artists had in common?

What I found to be common factors between artists are several things. I found that in at least this group of particular artists, they are successful because they work incessantly. Several work seven days a week. They all seem to have very set schedules and daily routines that they diligently keep to.

As Eric Fischl says about his daily routine, “My discipline is that I try to work on a regular basis rather than in spurts. I certainly don’t wait around for inspiration!”

And Ross Bleckner: “I am happiest and most psychologically balanced when my days follow the exact same pattern day after day after day.”

There is no idea that I have ever had that comes to me outside of the process of work. So therefore, the few months in a row I am working seven days a week—and if I am having a show or not is irrelevant—I guess the operative metaphor for me is that I am a scientist in a lab, on the verge of discovering something. Or I am just a hound dog sniffing around trying to catch the scent. But in order to do that, I need the [daily] consistency.

Having visited so many other artists’ studios, are there things you’d like to change about your own space? Did you ever get studio envy?

Oh definitely. Size would be the main thing, not so much for actual working space but more for storage. I try to keep things cleared away but especially if I have a big sculpture in here it takes up both physical and visual space. Also if I had additional space it would also be nice if I could create a “drawing” zone, a “painting” zone, a “looking at the paintings” zone, a “display” zone, a “sit on the couch and chill out and read” zone.

However, I have been surprised at how small some of the studios are, such as James Siena’s and even to a degree Chuck Close’s. About the size of his studio Chuck has said, “You know there is really no reason to have a big studio.” And, “I could paint anywhere. [In the past] I made big paintings in the tiniest bedrooms, garages, you name it. You know, once I have my back to the room, I could be anywhere. I could care less.”

As for studio envy, Eric Fischl and April Gornik have a stunning studio. Plus architecturally it is incorporated into the surrounding grounds and the main house as well. If I could trade with anyone it would be with them." (bron: The Morning News)